English partners, Papers, and Carnivals
by IvoryGreenReading
Summary: Eli and Clare aren't together.  But they will be!  Finished!  Not too pleased with ending.  R
1. Date?

I was having some pretty bad writer's block ((on everything!) So I decided to open a word document and see where it got me. Apparently, it got me here...

I'm not sure how I like it...But it's decent, I suppose.

I don't own anything, Loves.

Kay, have fun reading. I'll update later. Woo (:

* * *

"So," Alli began, pulling a lock of her hair around her finger, "when are you going to ask Eli out? You know, the new kid you have a _mega _crush on." Clare looked up, an innocent expression etched across her face.

"I have _no _idea what you're talking about." Clare giggled, peering over her shoulder the slightest bit to watch Adam and Eli fight over an issue of 'The Goon'.

Eli caught Clare's glance and smirked, "That's what you said when you first met him, too." Clare's eyes fell to the floor as a flashback of their first meeting came to her. She bit her thumb nail. Alli grabbed onto her shoulders, shaking her as she spoke.

"Just tell him you need him to look over an English assignment. Go to The Dot." Clare took one more look over her shoulder before nodding.

"Fine." Alli smiled, pushing Clare towards the boys. Clare stumbled into Eli, causing him to let go of 'The Goon'.

Eli groaned as Adam threw his fist in the air, "Victory!" Adam then turned and shuffled off down the hall.

"Thanks for that, Plath." Eli grumbled, turning to her, "So, can I help you?" Clare gave him an innocent grin.

"Actually, yes. I was hoping you could look over my paper on _The Scarlet Letter_ before class tomorrow. Can we meet up at The Dot today?" Clare held her breath in her throat after speaking. Eli smirked down at her, watching as a small tint of pink fell to her cheeks.

"Yeah, that's fine. Meet at Morty directly after school?" Clare nodded, her head dropping to hide her blush. Eli smiled down at her before pulling his bag over his shoulder more and departing.

Clare finally let her breath go, "Clare," Alli squealed, running to the auburn haired girl, "he _obviously _likes you!" Clare hushed Alli, turning to see Eli laughing from down the hall. He smirked at her before turning a corner.

"Alli! He heard you," Clare pulled on her friend's hair softly, "and I won't hear the end of it. Ever."

Alli groaned, telling Clare she was being overdramatic before skipping away excitedly. Clare sighed, heading to the Media Immersion room instead of lunch.

"Oh," Clare breathed out when seeing Principal Simpson sitting in his old chair, "hi, sir."

"Ah, Clare. Here to do some extra work as usual?" Principal Simpson laughed to himself. Clare hated to admit it, but she _was_ there to do extra work.

"Actually, yes." The elder of the two smiled up at her.

"I've missed teaching, really. Especially with students like you. Tell me, how have you been? How's your sister?" his eyes turned from her as he mentioned Darcy.

"We miss you as a teacher, Principal Simpson. Oh, and Darcy's fine. She's done a lot of good in Kenya. She supposed to come back in a few months for a visit."

Principal Simpson looked up at her and smiled, "Good. And you?"

Clare blushed, the only thought coming to mind was her plans for later that day, "Decent. Ms. Dawes's Advanced class is getting to me, though. I'm just glad she's assigned English partners."

_Really glad._

"Ah, Ms. Dawes. She's a fine teacher," Principal Simpson stood, "Well, 'pretend your still a teacher time' has run out. I'll let you get to working on…Whatever you were coming here to work on." Clare smiled up at the man, nodding.

He left without another word. He couldn't help but wish he was still teaching.

.

.

.

"That's preposterous, Clare." Eli whispered, taking a red pen to her paper. Clare looked up in shock. She strained to grab the page, but Eli yanked it from her reach.

"What did I do?" Clare whined, pulling the red pen from Eli's right hand. He sighed, signaling for her to hand the pen back over, "Not until you tell me what I did."

"You have a _huge_ run on sentence. Plus, I see a contraction in the second paragraph. Of all people, you shouldn't be making these simple mistakes." His eyes flicked from her face to her hand. She had a loose hold on the pen, so he plunged forward.

Clare pulled her hand back just in time. She giggled, tossing the pen across the table's top, "Fine. Fix it, you baby."

Eli smirked, whaling out like an infant may. Soon after, they held their own corrected papers. Eli's was left just as it was, while Clare's had several red markings on it.

"Wow, someone was off their game." Eli mumbled before pulling the passenger side door open for Clare.

"Oh, shush." With that, they both sunk into their seats. Eli hummed to his music while driving, and Clare stared at the lines on the road as they passed.

"Don't be a stranger," Eli began, motioning around the hearse as he pulled up to her house, "because Morty seems to like you." Clare smiled up at him.

"_Only _Morty?" Clare questioned.

"Not according to Alli." Clare blushed, "Good night, Edwards." Clare looked up, opening her mouth to reply. She felt defeated, closing her mouth once she found she couldn't bring herself to speak.

Clare left quietly, paying no attention to the screams on the other side of the door.

_Not according to Alli._

But what about according to _him_?

.

.

.

**clare-e23: **Do your homework, Elijah. I know you haven't.

**eli-gold49: **What if I don't want to?

**clare-e23: **Well, too bad. Unless you wish to fail and be in eleventh grade with Adam and I.

**eli-gold49: **Good point. Anything else you wanted to say? Like confess your undying love for me?

**clare-e23: **Oh, you wish, Eli.

**eli-gold49: **You have no idea, Clare.

**clare-e23: **Oh, I'm flattered but I have to get off.

**eli-gold49: **Twilight on TV again, Edwards?

**clare-e23: **Shut it, Goldsworthy. I'll see you in English.

_clare-e23 is offline_

Clare pushed herself away from the computer, a light blush on her cheeks. She wasn't even with the boy in person and he could still make her blush. Clare ignored the yelling form upstairs, pulling her jacket on before leaving for The Dot.

"Hey Peter," Clare greeted as she entered. The Dot was seemingly empty except for a few stray teenagers. Peter glanced up from his pad of paper and smiled, "get me a green tea?"

"'Course, Clare." He turned to grab a cup, "So, I saw you here a few hours ago. Who's the boy?" He arched an eyebrow up suggestively as he poured the liquid into the cup and capped it.

Clare's eyes grew, "My _English partner_." Peter pushed the drink to the girl, laughing at her red cheeks.

"Sure." Peter grabbed the money from Clare, waving as she left. Clare pulled her jacket closer to her body, ignoring the feeling she had when she said the words 'English partner'.

.

.

.

"Told you," Eli whispered as Clare examined her paper, "you should listen to me when I tell you that a sentence doesn't connect right. So unprofessional, Clare." Eli laughed, peering over her page.

"After all that work, all I got was a B+?" Eli smiled again, pulling the piece of paper from her fingers.

"Well, at least your editor did a good job. My editor didn't mark a thing on my page and all I got was an A-." He looked up at Clare with a smug smile pulling on his lips. The girl growled at him.

"Shut it, Goldsworthy."

"One condition," he breathed out, grabbing her pencil and tapping it on her desk. Clare peaked at him from under her eyelashes, "go to the carnival with me tonight. Adam ditched and I can't go alone." Clare flushed, pulling a hand to cover one of her cheeks. Was this a date?

"Of course." She mouthed as Ms. Dawes hushed the room. Clare turned to Adam, a grin pulled onto her face. Adam gave her a thumbs up, winking as he turned to the front board.

.

.

.

"Oh my God! Clare, it's _totally _a date. Right, Jenna?" Alli exclaimed. Jenna looked up from her text book, nodding slightly. Clare squealed, taking notice in the way KC's muscles tightened as she did so.

"Really? I wasn't too sure because he said he didn't want to go alone and Adam bailed on him last minute." Clare said. KC glanced at her, chuckling.

"Guys use that excuse all the time." He mumbled, looking over to Jenna- who giggled at his adoring look.

Clare felt relieved, yet nervous. This was her first date. When she was with KC, they were a couple. Sure, they went to The Dot for 'dates', but she'd never gone on a 'first date'.

"You guys sure it's a date?" She questioned, pulling herself from the couch as she spoke.

"Positive," Alli screeched. She took a hold of Clare's hand, pulling her up the stairs, "Now, let's get you ready for tonight!"

Clare was hesitant to go along with Alli's wardrobe choices, so they made a deal. Alli does makeup, Clare chooses outfit.

Clare relaxed when realizing that Alli only applied a light amount of eye makeup with some mascara.

"No need for blush." Alli had murmured with a powder brush in her mouth. After applying a pink lip gloss, Alli left Clare to change.

She chose a blue, white, and green floral dress. She wrapped a navy blue felt belt around her waist to hug her curves. For shoes, she chose a pair of black flats. Not too dressy, not too casual.

"Perfectly Clare." Alli said, spinning Clare. As she finished her full spin, the doorbell rang throughout the house.

"Okay, you guys are leaving soon, right? I can trust you to leave at appropriate times?" Clare asked, grabbing her denim jacket. Alli laughed.

"Yes, Mother."

* * *

Like?

Hate?

Eh?

Tell me. In a REVIEW!

Please and thank 'ya

PS, I'm watching Easy A right now. That's why I chose _The Scarlet Letter_...And yes, I wish I was in an 80's movie!


	2. Carnival

Sorry this took so long. I don't really like it. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. But, whatever. The song they keep singing is "Childish" by Damien Rice. It's my favorite song of all time. I've known the song for about two years, but I saw an Eli video with it and realized how freakin' _amazing _it is. Yeah. Check it out. Damien Rice a _GENIUS_. Yeah, whatever Eli says about him is exactly what I think (:

Um, I'm finishing up several new chapters to several new things (and old ones! Ex: Returning (: )

* * *

It was such a foreign feeling to Clare. Her cheeks were red as she sang along to Eli's music. Eli had one hand out his window as his smooth voice bellowed out the simple words. Really, Clare felt like moments such as this one were only in movies. The comfort that settled at the bottom of her stomach was something she hadn't felt before.

"If you're comin', come prepared for a fight!" Eli yelled. His eyes widened at the sudden pitch change in his singing. Clare laughed, watching Eli's face for his reaction. His left hand came back inside the vehicle.

"Tell me my voice didn't just crack?" He sighed out, peeking at Clare out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not a liar, Eli." Clare replied, silencing her singing as her least favorite part came on.

Eli continued his singing, though, "With my rumdiddlyumdiddlyumdiddly I'm so _fucking _deep. I'm so uncaring. Do far too much _fucking _swearing."

His voice stopped, his eyes darting to the girl next to him, "I don't like that part." She murmured.

His laugh came out deep, but hushed as they pulled up to a small booth. Without a word spoken between the woman in the booth and Eli, he pushed a wad of money to her. She counted it silently before giving him two pink tickets. He drove off into a filled parking lot.

"I love this part," Clare whispered, yanking the volume control up, "I'll try my bestest and as for the restest, it's just stuff that comes out wrong and gets misunderstood!" She shook her head as the guitar bellowed out six strong notes, "I'm a _dandy_ little dreamer. A doctored misdemeanor." She stopped, pushing the volume back down.

"Oh come on, Clare! Best part is the ending." She shrugged, "Please don't tell me you don't think the ending is _genius_! I mean, who can pull off something like _humming _the last minute of their song?" Clare smiled, shrugging once more as Eli turned the keys to turn Morty off.

"It's _alright_, but his lyrics are better then his humming. They have more meaning." She said, hopping in front of Eli as they walked. She hadn't actually paid any attention to the carnival in front of them. She had a point to prove.

"His humming symbolizes plenty, Edwards." A simple "whatever" echoed out between them. They let the subject drop as they passed a man. Eli held the two slips of paper up, and the man waved them on.

"What first?" Clare asked, pulling on her felt belt as the silence overtook them.

"Whatever you want, Clare. Tonight is all you." Eli said, shoving the tickets back into his pockets.

Clare's shocked expression didn't go unnoticed. Neither did Eli's deep smirk after she stumbled over her words.

.

.

.

"It's idiotic and barbaric, Eli!" Clare cried out, pushing all of her weight in the opposite direction of the ride. Eli pulled her in the other direction, smirking at how week she seemed.

"It's not _barbaric_, Clare. You're just scared." Clare looked up, a determined look on her face.

She stopped pushing herself in the opposite direction, rushing past her English partner towards the ride.

"Woah," Eli gasped, stumbling at the sudden movement. He released her hand, jogging to stay at pace with her, "why the sudden change in mind?"

"To prove I'm not scared."

"You try to prove a lot of things." She shot him a side ways glance, growling at his smug expression.

They didn't bother speaking again until the got to the front of the lengthy line, "_So_ barbaric."

"What's barbaric about it?" Eli asked, crossing his arms. Never in his life had he felt so insulted by this girl. She was calling his favorite ride barbaric. Not acceptable.

"I don't know. It's…" She glanced up at the ride, shrugging.

"Exactly. It's not barbaric. It's spinning fun. Of every ride here, it's my favorite. It's not even scary, Edwards." Eli took a step forward, offering her his hand so she could step up onto the platform.

They found two seats next to a few small children, "See," Eli began, throwing his thumb in their direction, "these _children _don't even look fazed by the ride." He strapped himself into the ride, letting his head fall onto the head rest in front of him.

"I'm not scared, Eli. This ride is stupid. All it does is make you dizzy. It's not even fun." She spat out. Eli growled at her.

Eli didn't hold his laughter in as they swung back and forth, spinning at the same time. He could faintly hear Clare whispering to herself.

"Oh, I'm going to be sick." He snickered at her, twisting his head to watch her.

After the ride stopped, Clare refused to look at him. She wobbled in front of Eli, shouting, "I told you I wasn't scared!" over her shoulder before plopping down onto a bench.

"Yeah, you showed me." The sarcastic tone in his voice couldn't be held back. He pretended to flinch as her fist collided with his shoulder.

.

.

.

"Today went by so fast." Clare said. Eli smiled at her, nodding.

"I know. To think that we just spent four hours riding pointless rides together." He turned Morty on, blinking to adjust to the light inside his car.

Clare felt a feeling of déjà vu overcome her as he stuck his hand outside his window. She cranked the music up and laughed.

"His humming is genius, you know." Eli whispered before turning right.

"I like his lyrics better." Clare replied back, but she couldn't help herself. She yelled "bum" out along with the singer.

They sighed simultaneously, a feeling of comfort settling between them again. Clare looked out her window, thinking back to what KC said.

Was this a date?

Just like that, Clare felt the bubbly feeling inside of her disappear. He hadn't _said _this was a date. Not once.

.

.

.

"And he just _left_?" Alli gasped through the phone. Clare nodded, allowing a simple 'yep' to slip out from between her lips.

"It was such an amazing night, too, Alli. He even got me on that ride that I got sick on last year." Alli's gasp swallowed up the silence between them.

"The one that swings back and forth while it spins? Oh my God, Clare! You're in _so _deep." Alli laughed at the end, spinning inside her bedroom. She stopped abruptly, remembering the mood of the conversation.

"I'm so confused, Alli. What does this mean? I mean, he never said it was a date. We didn't _act _like it was a date."

Alli didn't have a response, but she came up with the best she could.

"Just talk to him on Monday."

.

.

.

Clare awaited her English partner impatiently on Monday morning. Just as she was about to leave, deciding to simply talk to him in English, she saw him sauntering down the hallway.

"Missed me that much, Clare?" He asked sarcastically. She smiled up at him, rolling her eyes the slightest bit before smacking his shoulder, "Why is it that _I'm _not allowed to use violence, but you are?"

"Because, I won't make you bleed." She responded, hitting him once more.

"I'll give you that. So, what can I do for you?" Eli asked.

"Well," she paused, turning back to Alli for a moment, "I just-."

"If you wanted another date," Eli cut Clare off, "all you had to do was say please before you sprinted from Morty on Friday night."

Clare blushed, stopping her hand from hitting him again, "What makes you think that was a date? Better yet, if I _wanted _it to be a date?" she asked with the best sarcastic tone she could muster up.

"Alli talks a lot. I'm kind of glad she got my number out of your phone." He smirked down at her, walking away before she could react.

"I'm going to kill Alli." Clare whispered to herself as she walked to her best friend. Clare's smile spread far up on her cheekbones, though.

.

.

.  
"Finally," Clare sighed, plopping down into her seat, "English."

"It's only your favorite class because I'm right here." Eli said without turning around. Clare laughed, her shoulders shaking from the vibration in her voice.

"Whatever, Eli."

Clare began doodling, ignoring her surroundings once Adam sat down. He and Eli began to argue about the comic that Adam had run off with on Friday. Eli had been trying to snag it back all weekend.

Near the end of class, Eli turned and asked Clare to read over his English assignment.

"After school, Elijah." Clare mumbled.

"The Dot? It'll be date number two." Eli said, turning back around before she could respond.

"Of course." Clare whispered, shooting the back of his head a glance before looking back to her doodles.

.

.

.

"How does coffee sound for a good date beverage?" Eli asked, pushing his paper forward. Clare laughed, nodding.

He took her hand as she took her red pen out to mark a fragment on his page. As soon as she felt his touch, she forgot what she was going to mark.

She pushed the pen down to the paper to write a suggestion, but Eli whispered something about her eyes and she lost her train of thought.

Finally, Clare gave up on trying to edit the paper. She wrote 'great work' at the top of his page and handed it back to him. He smiled to her, laughing.

"What's so funny? You distracted me so much I couldn't find anything to mark. Whatever Ms. Dawes give you on that paper will be all your fault." Eli howled out with laughter, dropping the paper into his bag.

"I'd agree, but Ms. Dawes assigned us this assignment for our _partners_ to grade. Whatever grade you just gave me is the grade going into the grade book. Thanks, Edwards."

Suddenly, Clare understood, "So you get an A because I wrote 'great work' at the top?" Eli nodded, pulling her hand to his lips.

"You should pay more attention in class, Clare."

* * *

I'm going to upload a different story where Clare comes back to Ms. Dawes's class a year after she graduates and has a little talk with her in the middle of her class. What'cha think about that? I finished it up, I'm just editing it right now.

But yeah, you like this? I'm saying it's complete, but whatever you guys want, you know?

Inspiration is gone for my icarly fics if ANYONE ever read those. They were god awful. But if anyone out there read them, fee free to try to take them up. Just PM me. Who knows, you may inspire me again.

Kay, this AN is _way _too long.

Bye, Loves.

Caro((line))


End file.
